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Post by rodpashley on Jan 5, 2010 0:40:51 GMT 1
In early USA midgets, the cars became know as "Doodlebugs", I believe after some cartoon character When we started racing Midgets, some people adopted the same name, when WW2 was nearing the end, and the V1 flying bombs were being launched at London, they were nicknamed Doodlebugs because they sounded just like an ELTO motor in a Midget Attachments:
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Post by haflinger121 on Jan 5, 2010 10:03:02 GMT 1
Now that is definitely a QI fact Rod! I have occasionally pondered whether there was any connection with the nickname given to the V1 and that appended to midget cars. Have you any written proof of the connection, is it an asumption, or just one of those things you just 'know'? Although I have never heard an Elto run, I've always figured they must have sounded (a) raucous and (b) weird, all amplified by that massive diameter drain pipe they used for an exhaust.
I suppose what it comes down to is, were enough people in the country aware of the existence of midgets in WWII to enable the name to come into use. I reckon it's certainly possible.
Just while we're on the subject of odd-ball trivia, is anybody going to argue with me that it is possible to trace the lineage of a modern day Hummer right back to the Skirrow?
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Post by haflinger121 on Jan 5, 2010 10:15:41 GMT 1
Just for fun, to hear what a V1 sounded like, go here: www.zenza.se/vw/ and scroll down, looking to the right.
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Post by administrator on Jan 5, 2010 11:00:40 GMT 1
Just for fun, to hear what a V1 sounded like, go here: www.zenza.se/vw/ and scroll down, looking to the right. That's not a bomb - it's a Skirrow!
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Post by rodpashley on Jan 5, 2010 18:19:37 GMT 1
No proof, I'm afraid, I read it somewhere in the last 2 or 3 years.
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Post by rodpashley on Jun 16, 2010 16:28:47 GMT 1
As a follow up to Midget car nomenclature, they were, at one time, before WW2, known as Doodle bugs/Doodle dicers in the U S of A
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